Thousands of people packed shoulder-to-shoulder with no face masks in sight, frolicking on rubber floats and cheering along to a music festival in Wuhan, the BBC reports.
Over the weekend, the Wuhan Maya Beach Water Park was filled with partygoers in swimsuits bunched together shoulder to shoulder, waving to the beat of the music while cooling down in hip-high water; others relaxed on inflatable rubber tubes that packed the pool to the brim, with little space to float around.
The crowded party scene remains unthinkable in many parts of the world still grappling with the deadly virus, but in Wuhan, life has gradually returned to normal since the metropolis of 11 million people in Hubei province lifted a stringent 76-day lockdown in early April.
It was ground zero in the coronavirus pandemic and underwent the world’s first – and arguably strictest – lockdown.
Wuhan went into a then unprecedented lockdown on 23 January – at a time where the virus had killed 17 people and affected more than 400.
The city hasn’t reported any new cases since mid-May.
